Video: Disney turns hose on Rivers of America

May 3, 2010

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Water fills the Rivers of America at Disneyland as it starts to cover the guide rail that steers the Mark Twain Steamboat around Tom Sawyer's Island. The Mark Twain's paddlewheel is brand new. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A fire hose fills the Rivers of America at Disneyland with recycled water after an extended refurbishment of the original opening-day attraction. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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While it still sits on blocks, the Columbia Sailing Ship will soon be floating as water creeps higher in the Rivers of America at Disneyland. Recycled water began refilling the river on Monday after it was drained for an extended refurbishment. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The Mark Twain Steamboat and the Columbia Sailing Ship will soon be floating around the Rivers of America at Disneyland as it fills back up with recycled water. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Water creeps up the banks towards a keel boat that is a new set piece on Disneyland's Rivers of America. Guests riding on the river next month will be able to clearly see this and several other new sets and figures that were added to the attraction during an extended refurbishment. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The Indian Chief watches over recycled water refilling the Rivers of America at Disneyland. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Ducks are all ready swimming as recycled water refills the Rivers of America at Disneyland. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The crowd at Disneyland cannot see the water slowly fill the Rivers of America. The Mark Twain Steamboat sits in Fowlers Harbor, still undergoing some painting and additional refurbishment. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Water can be seen filling the Rivers of America at Disneyland in this view from the Disneyland Railroad as it steams through Frontierland. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A sign on the construction fence blocking the view of an empty Rivers of America at Disneyland. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Visitors to Disneyland peek through the construction fence for a look at the empty Rivers of America on Saturday, May 1, 2010. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A construction worker walks through an empty Rivers of America at Disneyland on Saturday, May 1, 2010. The river was scheduled to be refilled on Monday. The guide rail for the Mark Twain steamboat and the Columbia Sailing Ship can be seen at the bottom of the dry river. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Workers scramble to finish their work in an empty Rivers of America at Disneyland on Saturday, May 1, 2010. The river was scheduled to be refilled Monday. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Workers labor to finish installation of the guide rail in Rivers of America at Disneyland. Those on the Mark Twain are finishing installation of the new paddlewheel for the steamboat on Saturday so that the river can be refilled beginning Monday, May 3, 2010. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Workers swarm over the Mark Twain Steamboat at Disneyland. The riverboat sits in Fowler's Harbor on dry land on Saturday, May 1, 2010. The river and the harbor were scheduled to be refilled with water on Monday. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A construction fence blocks the view and the entrance to the loading dock for the Mark Twain Paddlewheeler and Columbia Sailing Ship attractions. Behind the fence work around the dry Rivers of America at Disneyland continued on Saturday, May 1, 2010 prior to refilling on Monday. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Water fills the Rivers of America at Disneyland as it starts to cover the guide rail that steers the Mark Twain Steamboat around Tom Sawyer's Island. The Mark Twain's paddlewheel is brand new. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

With the help of what looks like a fire company’s hose, Disney began re-filling the Rivers of America on Monday.

“Look, they’re refilling it,” said one mother to her daughter as they peeked through the temporary fence Disneyland set up in front of New Orleans Square around the famous waterway surrounding Tom Sawyer’s Island.

The hose, set on the dock of the Mark Twain Riverboat, had by the afternoon raised the water level to near the top of the paddlewheeler’s guide rail at the river’s bottom.

While some Disneyland guests peeked through the cracks of the fence, others caught a view of the slow-moving process from atop the bridge near the entrance to the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.

“The ducks are already swimming in it,” said a daughter to her father from the bridge.

Rivers of America had been empty for four months so that workers could make improvements, including the replacement of the entire track that guides the Mark Twain Riverboat and the Sailing Ship Columbia on their trips around the river.

Crews turned on the water shortly after 9 a.m., said Betsy Sanchez, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman. The river is scheduled to re-open for visitors on Saturday.

When emptied over seven days, the Rivers of America’s 6 million gallons of water went to a recycling facility instead of being dumped into the ocean, as Disney used to do. The last draining of the rivers was in 2003. This time, most of the water was sent to holding ponds, where it seeped into the groundwater for future use.

“They are theoretically getting some of this water back,” said Mike Markus, general manager of the Orange County Water District. “There’s a certain cycle to it. They drained it, we treated it, it became part of (the) groundwater basin, and they are extracting it.”

(Disney first used the recycling process when it emptied Paradise Bay in Disney’s California Adventure for the installation of the upcoming World of Color show.)

While the riverbed was dry, crews replaced the boat tracks, rehabilitated attractions and added a few features to the shoreline. Blue construction walls obstructed most of the view for visitors.

One of the new features is a keel boat near the settler’s cabin on Tom Sawyer’s Island. The keel boat will belong to Mike Fink, a character from Walt Disney’s Davy Crockett television series. Fink is supposed to take up residence in the cabin that used to be known as the Burning Settler’s Cabin.

“It’s good that he purchased that old burned-out property and fixed it up,” said Werner Weiss of Yesterland.com, a website devoted to past Disneyland attractions, playing along with the tale.

The river will also get some new deer and Indian figures, as well as new landscaping depicting areas of four American waterways: the Mississippi, Columbia, Rio Grande and Potomac.

The following attractions have been closed since January: Mark Twain Riverboat, Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer’s Island, Sailing Ship Columbia and Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes. All attractions, except for the riverboat, are scheduled to resume Saturday. Visitors are expected to go back on the riverboat May 21.

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